Prepare For Worship

1The Lord said to Moses, “Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. 2Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain. 3No one shall come up with you, and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain. Let no flocks or herds graze opposite that mountain.” 

4So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone. 5The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” 

8And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. 

This is the Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

14For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

16From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

1Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2For he says, 

“In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” 

Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. 

This is the Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the twenty-first chapter.

Glory to You, O Lord.

1Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” 

4This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5“Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”

6The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, 

“Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 10And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

This is the Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to You, O Christ.

 How wonderful to think that God has made His glory known even to us!  Have you read through the entire Bible? Maybe this would be a great way to honor God in 2020. 

CLICK HERE to start a personalized reading plan to complete the entire Bible in a year. It will be worth it, you will never be the same as God works through His Sacraments and His Word. Do you keep a spiritual journal that you use daily to record what God is communicating to you through His Word? Maybe it would be a good time to start this journey of discovery and listening.

Let us pray.  O Lord God, heavenly Father, by Your mercy, in the waters of Holy Baptism, You have made us each a part of Your Bride, the Church.  Grant that, as Your Church, we humbly receive Your blessings of forgiveness, life, and salvation through the gift of faith; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

“Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened…”   Luke 2:3.